Ryan's Travel Blog

A New Door Will Always Open

2009-01-03T21:40:00.004-06:00

I'm not quite sure whether anyone still visits my blog or not but regardless of who sees this, I couldn't justify keeping a travel blog without a final entry.

My time in Up with People has come to a close and I've been home for nearly a month now. The transition back into my normal, everyday life wasn't nearly as difficult as I had anticipated it being. Up with People is just like anything else in this world; if you do it for too long you grow tired of it. Toward the end of the tour, it was more of a struggle than anything I've ever done in my life. I found myself having to muster up the energy to do things that once excited me and made me want to do my best. I found the weekly travel days to be mundane and tedious instead of exhilarating and mysterious. Instead of wondering about where we were going next and what it would be like, I found myself uninterested and content with just stepping off the bus in whatever the next city may have been with little to no knowledge of my surroundings. Maybe it was the mystery of being in a new place that appealed to me, or maybe it was my body telling me that being in a new city every week was something that was incredibly hard to adjust to but regardless of the meaning, I had become disenchanted with the Up with People lifestyle. The only thing I found myself looking forward to was the day that I would return home to see the family and friends that I missed so much. It's safe to say that I was way homesick.

Don't get me wrong. Up with People provided me with so many great opportunities to broaden my horizons but it also taught me that there's nothing wrong with being critical at all. As a matter of fact, Up with People taught me the value of not only being a critical and proactive person but of being a critical thinker. Why should we accept things as they are? Why should something be true just because someone older and presumably wiser says so? What does it mean to be diverse and why should I be? What's wrong with asking questions; demanding answers to legitimate questions? By and large, I found that "taking it to the source" and "telling it like it is," two very commonly preached proverbs of Up with People, wasn't always acceptable. I learned that theoretical "authority" in a group of supposed equals was more important than open and honest discussion between two equals. And above all else I learned that in a large group of people, whether it's high school, or a group of young humanitarians, the dynamic will always be the same.

Now that it's all said and done, I've asked myself the question several times of whether I'd do it all over again or not. I have plenty of reasons to say that I'd reject the offer to travel in UWP if I knew then what I now know but on the inverse, I have so many more to persuade me to say yes. The people I met, the families I lived with, the places I saw, and the things I learned from others while traveling outweigh the negatives by far and if given the opportunity to do it all over, I'd opt to do so without the least bit of hesitation.

Now, what's next for me?

Manila!

2008-11-23T00:50:00.003-06:00

After almost three days of traveling, a few too many airplane meals, and a few in-chair foot pumps (to keep the blood flowing, you know) I finally arrived in the Philippines around 5:30 Tuesday morning. I've been here for nearly a week now and have already had a fantastic time working with the locals and spending time with my host family and roommates and can safely say that the Philippines is so much better than Mexico!

Sure, the water's dirty and the people drive like complete maniacs, but there's an exotic sense of euphoria in the air here for whatever reason. It could be the fact that while I'm awake and going about my daily business everyone back home is asleep or the fact that I'm 8,000 miles from home, or maybe it's just because I'm in Asia, but no matter what the reason is, the Philippines is just a fun place to be. The internal workings of Up with People are completely different here in the Philippines, too. Instead of staying a huge herd 24/7, we're split up into several different small groups and are working independently at different sites all over Manila. Groups of about 20 UWP students are deployed to various sites, working on projects like building houses in slums that take about 8 days each, whereas in the US each community service project usually only lasted one or two days. This is really a unique chance for us to build stronger relationships with the community members that we're working in collaboration with and in the end, it will give us a greater sense of accomplishment and instill a sense of pride in the work that we've done. As is true with everything in life, there are a few exceptions to the rule and in this case, I'm a part of it. One of the small groups in the area is referred to as the "Flex Group" because rather than working at the same project site for several days at a time, these students work in different places everyday. Aside from community service, the Flex Group also does a miniature version of the Up with People show in places like shopping malls and festivals in order to spread the UWP message and raise awareness about what we're doing in the community of Manila. I'm part of the Flex Group and have had an awesome time thus far with all the things that we've done!

Our first project was on Wednesday, just one day after arriving in Manila. We drove two hours outside of the city (which would only take 30-45 minutes if traffic wasn't deadly) into the mountains to a place called Mandaluyong City. Our objective was to visit Hulo Elemntary and Hulo High School to interact with the kids that attend each school. The history behind the two schools really is fascinating and a bit lengthy. In short, the school was built in an area of the mountains that prevented children from accessing the nearest school. Originally, only about 100 students were expected to attend, but after the school was constructed, many more children showed up due to the subsidy of the annual tuition (only $20) by the locals who wanted to give children who couldn't afford an education an opportunity to earn one. After a 5 year period of instability and constant growth, the Hulo Schools now educate nearly 800 students from the surrounding areas for free and have become the most renowned schools in the Philippines, known not just for their incredible success story, but also the quality of education offered there.

Our job was simply to interact with the children who attended both schools which proved to be much more difficult than any school interaction we had done in the United States. We were split into pairs of two to visit each classroom and I was paired with Laura Lynn from Nebraska. We were given literally about 60 seconds to modify our plans because upon arrival at the school we were told we need four groups, instead of the three we had been previously prepared ourselves for. Luckily, Laura Lynn and I are two of the smartest, most fun, and most attractive people in the group, so we had no problems adjusting our plans! ;-) The kids were excited that we were there and incredibly well mannered and respectful. We walked into the room and were immediately bombarded by a chant something along the lines of "Mabouhay visitors, welcome to our classroom!" I couldn't help but notice how well coordinated and almost brainwashed it sounded, but it was awesome nonetheless. After two hours of playing games, talking about differences in cultures and just having an overall good time, it was time for us to leave. We departed the campus the same way we arrived; serenaded in song and waved off by hundreds of kids. All in all, it was one of the best experiences I've had in Up with People so far and can't wait to have more stories to tell you all.

On a much darker note, I've decided I should keep tally of how many near death experiences I've had since I've been in Manila. So far the count is over 100 and all have been traffic related incidents. :-p

Viva La Philippines...? (Update #1)

2008-11-17T06:45:00.003-06:00

It's been a little while since I've last updated my blog, and I feel like a horrible person but this is my attempt to make up for it. I won't go back and update you on what's happened in detail because if I were to do that, this entry would be way too long. (Sorry!)

I'm sitting in Denver International Airport right now (for the third time in a four month period) awaiting my first flight en route to the Philippines. The travel plan requires a stop in LA, which will be a 12 hour layover, followed by a 14 hour flight (with a refueling stop in Guam). It's safe to say that I'm way apprehensive about this flight for a few reasons, the most prominent being that I've never flown over an entire ocean before and have never really had to listen to the flight attendant's spill about the seats doubling as flotation devices. Maybe this time I'll listen...

I'll post another update from LAX if there's free wifi available and another once I reach the Philippines if at all possible. If you're worried or just wanting to talk, you can contact me until 9pm tonight (10pm Texas time) which is when my flight will be leaving. After that, my phone will be off until December 16th!

A Fantastic Landmark

2008-10-27T21:47:00.006-05:00

This weekend was probably one of my favorite of this entire tour. It was just yesterday that we had the fantastic opportunity to see Mt. Rushmore and then go camping in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. While it was way cold for a native Texan such as myself (about 25 degrees in the day and 18 at night), it was all well worth it.

Since the transit time from Cheyenne to Aberdeen South Dakota is about 14 hours, our staff made the wise decision to split the trip over two days time. We arrived at Mt. Rushmore around 2:30 in the afternoon and stayed for over an hour. Being in the presence of such an amazing landmark with such beautiful scenery was just indescribable. Despite the fact that the temperature was around 25 degrees, it was still an awesome experience. As a matter of fact, I'd go so far as to say it was one of my favorite stops on the entire tour.

After Mt. Rushmore, we drove about a half our down the road to Outlaw Ranch, where we stayed the night. The group was split up in several different cabins where we spent the night, however most people didn't even sleep! I fell asleep in the camp lodge around 2am next to a nice warm fire and woke up in the same spot a few hours later. All in all this was a fantastic day with a great end!

In the morning we boarded the buses for our second day of driving. We drove about 8 hours before arriving in Aberdeen, SD, which is on the extreme northeast side of the state. My host family here is really great. As a matter of fact, my host mom is a teacher aspiring to become a school administrator. She has two kids (ages 11 and 12) who are really down to earth and fun to be around. They even fed us dinner tonight while she was at night classes for her graduate degree. It seems I always end up staying with people that remind me of my mom so much. Maybe it's just a coincidence, or maybe it's just that I miss her so much that I tend to see the qualities in others that are so similar to her own.

I'll be home in seven more weeks, so get ready Texas folks!

From a distance

A shot from the Presidential Trail

This is part of the recently added landscaping

There's room for me on Washington's right, huh?

Chihiro from Japan, Birgit from Switzerland, Me, and Ouray from the Navajo Nation

What a view!

The mastermind behind Mt. Rushmore.

The entryway behind me is lined with all 50 state flags.

One of the cabins we stayed in at the Outlaw Ranch last night.

A Birthday Blog

2008-10-22T22:48:00.007-05:00

As my first birthday away from my beloved friends and family and outside of the state of Texas, it's safe to say I was a bit apprehensive about how it would turn out. As you can see from my last entry, I was very pessimistic that I would be lonely due to the fact that those who usually surround me and let me know I'm loved are hundreds of miles away. As usual, I was pleasantly surprised by the compassion and sense of appreciation I felt not only from my troupe of 100 peers, but also my wonderful host family here in Cheyenne.

Overall, my day was a great one. I was doing community service all day today with the Parks & Recreation Department of Cheyenne. As a team of about 20, we were responsible for assembling and stapling about 2,200 coupon booklets for this weekend's Goblin Walk that will take place in the community center. The coupon books will go in the goody bags of all the kids that attend along with scores of candy and treats. The contact at the site was very apprehensive because usually the task we were assigned to do is done weeks in advance so as not to create excess stress so close to the event, but due to other office work, it never got done. We were given from 9 - 3 to complete the task and in true Up with People fashion, we finished just before lunch; around noon. The contact was more than satisfied and expressed his gratitude and thanks for our service several times before we left. It's always good to leave a site with a sense of accomplishment and the feeling that your service is appreciated.

In the afternoon, we discussed eating disorders in an education workshop. We had a group of guests with us who put on a short production and then had a panel discussion with us about eating disorders and many of the issues that are related to them. Overall it was a very education and insightful two hours and really opened up my eyes to the scope of eating disorders and just how incredibly destructive they can be to one's life.

This evening was incredibly special for me because it reminded me that for every bad person in the world, there must be two or more waiting to do good. My host family for this week is far more compassionate then I could ever imagine anyone being to a person they've known only two days. This seems to be a recurring theme throughout my experience here in Up with People and if I could use just one word to describe how it feels to be treated so graciously by virtual strangers, I'd say it's uplifting. Ed & Linda seized tonight as the perfect opportunity to restore my faith in society and demonstrate that truly compassionate people do still exist in the world, by making me feel as at home as they possibly could on my 19th birthday. After dinner, Linda brought out the specially ordered cake complete with my name scribbled in blue letters and proceeded to adorn it with 19 candles. We did the usual birthday routine and ate the cake and afterwards, I was take completely by surprise when she presented me with a gift bag. I was beyond surprised because for someone to take me into their home for an entire week is an act of grace that I may never be able to fully comprehend. But to go a step further and have a cake and a mini part for me is even more unexpected, but still appreciated. For someone to take things yet a step further and show their gratitude by presenting me with a present after I'd been in their home for only two days it something that I never would have expected and certainly would never request from a group of people who have already done so much for me just in letting me sleep in their home and eat their food. Anyway, I opened the gift bag and was very pleasantly surprised to find "The End of Poverty" which is a book I've nearly bought on my last two trips to Barnes & Noble but for whatever reason decided not to. The bag also contained a gift card to B&N and chocolate, two of my favorite things! This surprise gift and significant display of generosity helped to make my first birthday away from home perhaps one of the most memorable.

I also heard from my lovely Salt Lake host family via email tonight, which was great! Pat, Rich, Emily, and the extended family were a fantastic group of people for me to get to meet and live with for three weeks and I'm eternally grateful for the things I learned from all of them, some a bit more valuable than others. Pat was the kind of woman who gave everything she believed in her 150% dedication and never lost sight of what truly makes us human. As a matter of fact, one of the many magnets around the house read "Stop me before I volunteer again!" and it was conveniently located at eye level on the refrigerator. She's also a pretty inspirational gal...she repeated several times that she believes "Service is the rent we pay for the space we take up on this planet." How insightful is that? Emily, on the other hand, taught me the value of a good education in the arts; the art of oatmeal launching, that is. If you aren't familiar with the concept, don't Google it, because you probably won't find the answer, Instead, search deep inside yourself and try to come up with an original explanation as to what oatmeal launching truly is. If you can't come up with anything, just wait until my next entry!

I say it every year when my birthday comes and I'll say it again, though this year it'll be on the record. It never ceases to amaze me how something so simple as a short message, phone call, or a few short words to say "Happy Birthday" can lift one's morale so much. I've always appreciated every single person who has ever taken the short amount of time to stop and wish me the best on this special day that only comes once a year, but much to my regret I lose sight of the importance of this very simple task during the duration of the year. More than anything, I'm thankful that I get the chance once a year to use my birthday as a reminder of how incredibly important one's simplest words, gestures, and actions can so positively affect another. This year, my resolution and promise to myself is that as of October 23rd, I will make every conscious effort to take note of the things I say and do that can affect the morale of others, both positively and negatively, over the course of the next 365 days until I am again given the opportunity to be reminded on this same day, just 52 weeks in the future.

The Salt Lake Family. Emily, Ryan, Pat, Rich, Katie and Quincy (L to R, B to F)

Ryan & Kelsey from California

Ryan & Daniela from Mexico

Did I mention I'm a professional cake cutter?

My lovely cake!

Anika really likes candles...must be a German thing.
Here's the cake before we ate it.

For the First Time

2008-10-22T00:38:00.002-05:00

A big deal here in Up with People land is asking yourself what the last thing you did for the first time was and I'm about to have a really special answer to that question. For the last 18 years of my life I've had the distinct privalege of being surrounded by my closest friends and family members on the most special day of the year for me; my birthday. For the first time in my entire life, I'm having my birthday without all these lovely people around and instead they're all been replaced by 100 other people. It's hard to explain how one can feel lonely with 100 people around, but it's quite possible and believe me, I'm already starting to feel it and the "big day" isn't until tomorrow.

Looking back on the many birthdays I've had, no matter how different they all were, one thing is consistent about each and every memory; my family and friends. From each and every birthday party I had at Chuck-E-Cheese's (ask grandma, she remembers each and every one of them) to the time I turned 10 at the railroad tracks in Ingelside, Texas, I can remember always having someone around to wish me a happy birthday. I've already received several messages in the past hour (since it's already past midnight in Texas) but more than anything I just want to be home with the ones that I truly love to have a day to myself. It's hard to say much more about the way I'm feeling, so I just want you all to know that I appreciate your birthday wishes and love you all dearly. Thanks to all of you for trying your best to make me feel so at home from so far away.

I'll have plenty of pictures and things tomorrow...and an update of the past week.

Snow In October?!

2008-10-10T10:19:00.004-05:00

I'm sure all you wonderfully loyal visitors read my last blog entitled "It's Christmas Time" but now I'm really not kidding...tomorrow is Christmas! If you're at all confused, let me break it down for you. You see, I'm from the southern part of Texas, which is constantly humid and hot year round. As a matter of fact, the temperature back home right now is 83 degrees and that's totally normal for "Fall" back home. As far as Christmas weather goes...we really don't have it (with the exception of the snowfall we received in 2004 which was the first time it had snowed since weather was first formally recorded which was in the late 1800's). So I'm sure you can imagine the thoughts that were going through my head when I heard that there will be snow in the valley (in case you're wondering...I'm in the valley) Saturday and Sunday! I hate snow because snow means it's cold outside and when it's cold outside, it's usually cold inside which means a terrible night's sleep for however many nights the snow decides to hang around. Anyway, I wanted to keep this one kind of short, but you can bet I'll be posting a lot more later...maybe even some stereotypical snow pictures!

As a side note, the cast arrives in Salt Lake City on Monday (just one day after the snow) and we're beyond ready in terms of logistics and whatnot. The group is going to have a great time here in SLC because we've got a few surprises for them! No details until they happen...sorry!

P.S. Someone's birthday is coming up in 12 days so now would be a great time to start planning what you'll be buying me! :-D

It's Christmas Time!

2008-10-05T21:37:00.007-05:00

After a weekend of spontaneous weather (with plenty of rain), it's safe to say that Christmas has come early this year! The temperature right now is around 50 degrees and it just feels so much like Christmas at grandma's right now. I swear, if I didn't know any better I'd think it's mid December and I'm up in Kerrville for the holidays! Regardless of where I am or what time of year it is, there's just something about the cold weather that puts me in the Christmas spirit.

This weekend has been way fun for a few reasons. Last night was my first real haunted house experience. As luck would have it, the third best haunted house in the country (according to Travel Channel) is just a ten minute drive from the house, so how I could pass up such a lovely opportunity?! I guess it was around 8 in the evening when we hopped in the car and drove downtown to go get the crap scared out of us, but I wasn't really all that nervous until we got there. We had printed our tickets from the Castle of Chaos website and since we bought the VIP package, we didn't even have to (or get to) wait in line! We walked right up to the front of the line and had some sassy lil' girl give us our "VIP" wristbands and we were off! Now, before I go any further, it's important to note that this wasn't your typical rinky dink hometown haunted house...this place was crazy. It even had real actors inside waiting to scare the crap out of you...we'll talk about them later. The scariest part about the first section was the anticipation...I had heard a lot about it from Emily and Katie on the drive over, so of course I was a little scared to go in! So...I did what any other brave soul would do and let Emily go first :-D! We made it through the entire first part with a few scary moments, the scariest of which was the very last part when we were walking out. You see, the entire place is pretty dark, so it's hard to see the crazy girl from The Ring climbing around on the ceiling, until you come around the corner and have her reach for your face. Ya...it was scary. Anyway, since we bout the "VIP package" we got the distinct privilege of going through the X-SCREAM part of the haunted house. We walked in the door and were in a completely dark room and the only way out to the next part was to find your way through. So, we're walking around this tiny dark room (it was maybe 8x8) when all of a sudden a guy screams "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" right in Emily's face and scares the crap (what's left of it) out of us again! So, after getting screamed at by a crazy guy in the dark, we climbed through the tunnel to get out of the dark room, through some wind pillow thingys that almost suffocated me, and then out to the next part where we were greeted by a nice bloody girl just chillin' in a hot tub sauna like room...except scarier. Once we made it by the crazy bloody girl, we walked around the corner and this executioner looking guy swings a sledge hammer around the corner and almost hits Emily in the face (isn't she brave, going first and everything) which of course caused her to almost reverse head-butt Katie, which almost caused her to reverse head-butt me, which would have been terrible because there would have been a haunted house throw down. Anyway, we finally make it to this creepy room with big wooden boxes in it. This crazy girl with a horrible haircut told me to get in the box, so of course I told her no...then I got in it. She told me to lay on my back as if I'm in a coffin (which I was) and just hang tight until she "gave me the signal to go." Well, the signal was her sliding my scared ass through the wall into the next room where a lovely gentleman with a chainsaw was waiting to cut my face off...so of course I screamed like crazy and ran...fast. That was pretty much the end of the haunted house and I was beyond ready to go home...so we did.

Today was freakin' fantastic! I woke up around 11 or so and had some blueberry pancakes, eggs, and bacon. After I got dressed and ready for the day, Pat and Rich took me out to Park City, which is basically the Breckenridge of Utah. As a matter of fact, Breckenridge AND Park City were both used in the filming of Dumb & Dumber. The super huge house where the kidnappers live or work or whatever is actually located in Park City, Utah (in case you were wondering). We went up to a ski resort which has a variety of fun things for tourists to do, such as a zip line, the Alpine Slide (a big super cool mountain slide), and a roller coaster type thing...except different. Pat, Rich, and I all went on the roller coaster type thing (hereby known as the MountainSlideCoasterXTREME). The MountainSlideCoasterXTREME starts out by taking you up the side of the mountain in a single passenger sled type thing which takes about 5-10 minutes to ascend. Once you're at the top, you begin free falling down this really cool railway and you get to control your own speed. You can brake and speed up and your own discretion, but the guy that was working said "you can't fall out of the car and the car can't fall off of the rail, so go fast" so of course I did. The whole time I was thinking "wouldn't it be something if I was the one to prove him wrong?!" But, I didn't let that discourage me. I went pretty fast the entire way down and loved every second of it. See the video below...it's the entire ride down.

After we left the resort, we drove around Park City for a while and then eventually made our way out to the Great Salt Lake. Now, I've been hearing since I got here about how terrible the lake smells and how gross it is and all that great stuff, but much to my surprise it wasn't too terrible. As a matter of fact, for all you South Texans reading, it wasn't any worse than going to Port Aransas during seaweed season. It was actually really cool to see the lake up close because earlier in the day Pat and Rich were telling me about how 32,000 years ago the majority of the state of Utah was underwater in what is now known as Lake Bonneville (look it up, it's way interesting to read about). The Great Salt Lake is just a very small remnant of what used to be Lake Bonneville, but it's still a pretty good sized lake.

All in all, today was a great sightseeing day and I totally enjoyed it. As a matter of fact, as soon as we got home, I took a nice little nap on the couch and woke up to chicken enchiladas with rice. What more could I ask for?! This place is the closest I've felt to home in a long while which is good because I love feeling like I'm at home, but it's also bad because it only makes me miss it more.

The long and beautiful ride up...

The even more beautiful part of the ride up!

Ryan does the Great Salt Lake!

That's MY foot in the Great Salt Lake!

Yes...this really happend.

MountainSlideCoasterXTREME!!!

Salt Lake City!

2008-10-01T13:41:00.004-05:00

Arizona was a great week overall. Aside from getting back to the United States, I got to see my mom over the weekend, and the show was awesome! My mom showed up on Friday night and we all went to dinner to celebrate our (temporary) reunited status. We went to Olive Garden, which I had been craving for quite a while since we were in Mexico, and everything was great. There was actually a bit of a surprise when the staff came out and started singing happy birthday to me. You can probably imagine the confusion shown on my face because my birthday wasn't for another 28 days, but I love eating cake, so I was all for it. It turns out my mom had them sing to me and bring out a homemade german chocolate cake (that she made and transported all the way from Texas) since she wouldn't see me for my real birthday. That was totally unexpected but completely fine by me! The next day was a show day, so we were at the Sahuarita High School Auditorium all day. It was a big show day because the founder of Up with People along with the 4 founding musical legends of the program would all be in attendance. In fact, the Colwell Brothers and Herb Allen (the founding musicians) performed with us that night! Just before the show started, there was a VIP reception for all the important people in attendance. The prince of The Netherlands was in attendance along with two other very good friends of the founder who had flown in from Europe just to see the show. I spent the bulk of the reception talking to a man named Pat Murphy. He traveled in Up with People back in 1972, just seven years after the program began, and had a world of information to share with me. We talked about social rifts that still divide our United States of America and how sadly, it will probably take a much longer time to eliminate them and ensure that all people are truly mandated equal social status. We talked about the election and how exciting/frustrating/discouraging it can be at times. And finally, we talked about a cartoon I had seen in Newsweek that had Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King looking down from heaven on an enthusiastic young black man, Barack Obama, giving a speech in Anywhere, USA. The cartoon showed Lincoln leaning over to MLK and saying "You're not dreaming anymore!"

So, I touched down in Salt Lake City around 2:30pm on Monday to begin my internship here as part of the advance team here. Anika (the other intern) and I were excited the whole way here to start something different. We don't have a set schedule every day or anyone to answer to but ourselves if things don't get done on time which is completely awesome. Instead of being told where to go and what to do and being forced to travel in a herd of 100 people, we're telling ourselves what to do and how to do it and all that good stuff. So far it's been a great experience and I can't wait until our work is all done and we can just relax a little bit! The majority of our time so far has been dedicated to finding host families because we still need places for about 50 more people to sleep. If you're reading this and you live in the Salt Lake City area and you're interested in being a host family, call me. I'd love to hear from you. Ha! If only life were that easy!

My host family here is absolutely incredible. Pat and Rich have lived in the same home since 1987 and spent the bulk of their lives raising their children here and establishing themselves in the local community. Rich works for the forrest service and travels often whenever there's an imminent disaster or fire going on some place else. As a matter of fact, he just returned from Texas in preparation for Hurricane Ike, so he's familiar with the state and knew instantly where Corpus Christi is located. Pat on the other hand is a fourth grade teacher, but has a wealth of experience in life. She has worked as both the Vice President and President of the state teacher's union as well as with countless campaigns to elect Democrats to positions previously held by Republican politicians. Her daughter Emily is 26 and extremely passionate about politics. She's currently working on a senate race and trying to oust the Republican incumbent of 22 years from his position on the basis that he only supports education 19% of the time (according to this voting record). It looks like she may have a good chance of winning the seat because her mom has sent out about 500 letters to teachers in the area encouraging them to vote Democratic for education's sake. Anyway, as you've probably guessed, I was pretty scared to be hosted in Utah because of the fact that LDS and conservatism are two of the most prominent lifestyles in the state. I immediately breathed a sigh of relief when I was unloading my suitcase and walking up the walkway to the door and saw an "OBAMA - BIDEN" sign hanging in the window. Since the house I'm living in backs up to a major street (kind of like the houses along Wildcat in Portland) they family uses their fence space to advertise for countless Democratic candidates running for office. If you look at the fence from the other side you can see more than 15 signs ranging in size from 2x2 all the way up to 6x8 hanging from the fence. I'll be sure and put up a picture later this week. It's so fun waking up here in the morning because if someone decides to steal the campaign signs in the night, Emily wakes up furious and ready to kill someone, but her Mom (she's had many signs stolen over the years), acting out of experience and determination will just respond by hanging up 3 times as many signs! As a matter of fact, last night I spent a good 30 minutes hanging new signs because the night before a few of them disappeared. I love this place!

To make a long story short, this week has been amazing so far. I've been kept busy calling host families, getting meals donated (or trying to), and hanging campaign signs for local democrats. There's nowhere else I'd rather be. As a matter of fact, last night while I was hanging signs with my host mom she looked at me and said "It's no accident you wound up here, you know. The stars were totally aligned when they led you here!" How funny is that?!

What an incredible view! Tucson, AZ

He's popular in them red states!

Mariachis do it best...you know that!

La Posada Senior Center group!

Stand For Peace Extraordinaires!

It's my birthday!! Wooo!

Mom, Lexi, Ryan...in case you wondered what perfect looks like. :-p

Mom and Ryan for the first time since July!

Home Sweet Home...Sorta

2008-09-22T08:48:00.002-05:00

I've just finished packing and am on my way to host drop off! I'm extremely excited to get back to the US and to start living life the way I've always done and loved. I'll be in Arizona in about 6 hours (plus border check times and other delays) and I expect to hear from all of you as soon as i cross the border!

This week will be a very good one because my mom is coming to see me in Arizona! I'm way excited to see her because if there's anyone that can put a smile on my face, regardless of my emotions, it's her! I can't wait to show her off to the group so they can see exactly where I get my good looks, talent, charm, and splendor!

Viva America!

2 More Days 'Til Arizona!

2008-09-19T09:57:00.017-05:00

This week has definitely been one of the more...interesting ones I've experienced thus far. Aside from having tequila literally shoved down my throat and having two near death experiences, everything has been pretty great! If ever there was I time I've missed the United States (Texas especially) on this tour, it's definitely now.

Since Monday was a travel day from Culiacan to Hermosillo, the majority of the day was spent on the bus. As a matter of fact, the bus ride was a solid twelve hours, peppered with random security checkpoints, during which we had to get off the bus for anywhere from 10-20 minutes while the military searched for smuggled fruit, bombs, and drugs. We finally got to Hermosillo around 8pm and attended a late night celebration for independence day. We were privileged to be in the presence of the Governor of the state of Senora for his annual reception which was way fancy. During the reception, we were told to mingle with the people that were there (mostly government officials, so it was right up my alley) and the first man I met just so happened to be named Alan Aguirre! Since I was wearing my name tag, he saw that we have the same last name and gave me his business card so I could check his website and look at his family tree, which reminds me that I still need to do that.

Tuesday was a regional learning day. We traveled an hour up the road to the town of Guaymas for a lunch with the mayor of that town. He had a very nice meal prepared for all of us, and after lunch we got to use the pool (and for those that were feeling ambitious, the beach) at the resort where the lunch was being held. We stayed for about three hours before boarding the buses to take a guided tour of the city of Guaymas and after nearly two hours, we began the bus ride home.

Wednesday was our first CI day in this city and was probably my best CI experience so far. Along with six cast mates, I painted a basketball court and beautified a park that was covered in graffiti. It was very strange to see such a well developed playground and basketball court in the community we were in because it was an extremely poor area. If you reference my last entry, you can see pictures of a severely poor community in Los Cabos, and this area was very similar in nature. The best part about this community service project was that after about an hour of working on the playground, approximately 30 children living in the neighborhood came out of their houses and began helping us improve the park. By the end of the day, everyone was painting, sweeping, laughing ,and having a great time. I really enjoyed the project because I felt like for the first time in my Up with People career, we were accomplishing our mission; inspiring others to take action and responsibility for the communities in which they live. Though the mission statement is something that is meant to happen over an extended period of time, the immediacy of the results that we saw that day were absolutely incredible, and at best, inspiring to me as an UWP participant.

Thursday was also a CI day, but before we did that, we had a few internal activities. We started with an education workshop about our own personal mission and vision for our lives, which was rather interesting. We all made a recipe for our lives, which was just another way of getting us to materialize our ambitions for our future and it also gave us something to look back on in a few years to see how we're progressing toward our goal. We also did a really awesome activity in which we all taped a piece of paper to our backs and our job was to write what we could genuinely see each other doing in the future on each other's backs. At the end of the activity, we all got to look at our papers and see what people wrote, but it was very difficult to distinguish who wrote what because it was about a 30 minute activity and with so many people writing things on you it's easy to lose track. When I read my paper everyone said things like "Politician" or "Attorney" and other awesome things that I aspire to be. I was way pleased with the way it went, so I put my paper in my journal so I can reference it later in life.

Thursday night was very interesting for a few reasons. I'm not sure if anyone has ever heard of the crazy traditions that exist in Mexico, but believe me, I saw first hand that they do exist. We went out to eat at a really nice Mexican restaurant and the food was amazing! After we ate, we stuck around for about two hours to watch the Mariachi group that was playing there and they were really great. But, at about 10:30 or 11:00, things turned crazy when the waiters turned into sombrero wearing, mustache sporting, noisemaking hombres with a fiery passion for tequila shots. They would dress up in their typical Mexican gear periodically throughout the night and sneak up behind unsuspecting patrons, slam a shot glass on the table, proceed to make an excessive amount of noise, and literally force the tequila shot down the person's throat. And to top it all off, they'd give your head a nice little shake to ensure that you swallowed it all. So, Sandrine (my roommate from Belgium) and I were completely horrified that we'd be put on the spot, but were reassured several times by our host mom that we would be fine because we're "out of towners." However, as she was assuring us of our so called "safe" status, the hombres showed up behind Sandrine and victimized her. Afterwards, I was understandably paranoid that I would be next because everyone in the restaurant knew that I was a Texan and in town with Viva La Gente (Up with People). I was constantly looking over my shoulder and kept my wits about me, until about an hour or so later, when I was beyond tired and could barely keep my eyes open. I put my hand on my chin and relaxed my eyes, only to be astonished by the tequila touting hombres slamming a shot glass on the table next to me, so as you can guess, I too was victimized. Luckily (or not) the hombres had terrible motor skills and managed to spill the majority of the tequila on my clothes and I only had to stomach a small amount. I was beyond livid. I was definitely in the mood to go home.

Today was crazy! I started out at a children's hospital as a CI project in which we were solely responsible for making the kids smile. I had to wear a clown nose which totally clashed with my outfit, but I had a great time anyway. It was awesome to get to see kids smile who wouldn't normally do so otherwise, given their unfortunate circumstances. Later in the day, we went to fix up yet another basketball court and once it was finished, we had a mini show in the neighborhood which turned out to be very successful with many people in attendance. Tonight we went to Starbucks (one of the very few in Mexico) which was my first time to go since I was in the US and much to my surprise it tasted exactly the same as it does back home. Unfortunately, it took them 298734 hours to get it ready, but it was well worth it once they finally did. Oh, and in case you were wondering, they wrote Brian on my cup here, just as they did in the US on what seemed to be a constant basis. I don't think I stutter or mumble when I say it, so it could just be that poor hearing is an international issue.

Tomorrow is a free day to spend with our host families and we plan on going to eat lunch together and then maybe bowling or a movie.

City Hall...or something like that.

Fireworks! Viva Mexico!

A group of overemphatic patriots.

The Texans...Jenny from Austin, Me, Javi from San Antonio.

Representin' the hispanic heritage.

One of the best meals I've had in Mexico was at the Mayor's Luncheon.

Yet another beautiful beach.

This gazebo was designed by the same guy who designed the Eiffel Tower.

Russ (Maryland) and Marieke (The Netherlands) anticipate the Pigeon's presents. Bleh!

Nathalie (Sweden) paints some of the kids' names.

Ryan working with kids and smiling!?

They demanded a picture, so a picture they got.

You'd never believe how excited they were to paint unless you were there witnessing it.

One More Week!

2008-09-14T23:26:00.004-05:00

So it's safe to say I've had my share of cultural experiences for the month here in Mexico. Never before in my life have I been in a situation where I almost died because my crazy bus driver almost killed a cow in the road, nor have I seen such a scarcity of toilet paper, hot water, and clean streets. The people in Mexico are some of the most hospitable you'll ever meet, but the atmosphere is what really gets to me. I miss my daily dose of CNN, my best friends and the amazing times we had back home, my family, but most of all I miss the simple pleasures that I have taken for granted for so long. I miss my independence; driving my car wherever I wanted to go whenever I wanted; having the luxury of speaking my mind without having to be conscious that my remarks and points of view are representative of something much larger than myself; not having a set of rules to abide by on a daily basis; not having a limit on how much of this or that I'm allowed to eat. I miss coming home at night or in the afternoon to an eager mom, dad, or brother, or maybe even a pair of dogs with their "Geez we've been waiting all day"expressions on their faces and an overabundance of saliva reserved especially for me (or whoever would have walked through the door at that specific moment). I miss school more than I ever though I would. I don't necessarily miss the concept of high school, but I do miss being forced to think because I'm quickly realizing now that in a herd of 100 people it's not always necessary to think for yourself, which of course means nobody does. Speaking to a group of predominately non-native English speakers almost mandates that you speak in watered down English otherwise you find yourself rephrasing and repeating all the time. It's by no means a bad thing, but it is of course a reality that I'm having to deal with.

I remember very distinctly when I was preparing for this trip, so many people told me so many times how incredibly fortunate I am to have such a great opportunity. I'm very grateful that I'm here now because I am learning so much, but it's not at all what I expected. I expected to learn about culture and global interactions and what it means for me to be a global citizen and I am, but I never anticipated learning life lessons such as how to bite my tongue, or how to modify my thoughts to satisfy the mindset of the program of which I am now a small part, or how incredibly depressing it is that you can never get back time that has long since passed. If I had to pick one thing that has had the most impact on me so far on this trip it would be very simple. Being away from home has allowed me ample time to reflect on the things that I very much appreciate in life and the fact that most of them aren't anywhere near me right now. Time is the one thing in life that I have no control over whatsoever. I can change my mind about things in life, I can even change the minds of others; I can change my look as well as my outlook; I can alter my personality with little to no effort; I can do anything I want to do, but I can never ever take back time or relive moments that have long since passed. Maybe my problem is that I live in the past and don't allow myself to enjoy the present. But, how in the world could I enjoy being so incredibly sad?

The side of Cabo you don't see on TV.

The side of Cabo you DO see on TV.

My host family in Cabo. I love them!

The sand is way bigger in Cabo and I'm not sure why.

Cabo beach = Awesome

Ferry from Cabo to Tepic

Coconut Milk! Yay!

Ryan & Laura Lynn from Nebraska

Laguna de Santa Maria del Oro

Sprite bottles are glass here.

Iguana? Lizard? I don't know...

Ryan & Kelly from North Carolina @ the Municipality of Culiacan Reception.

Ryan & Milou from The Netherlands

Yes...that's a $6.00 admission fee to go to the beach.

Viva Mexico! Independence day is 9/16

I'm Alive, I Promise!

2008-09-10T00:29:00.002-05:00

Hello All!

Greetings from Culican, Mexico! I just wanted to type you all a quick note to let you know I'm alive and well. I've said it many times before, but internet is so hard to come by here in Mexico and only those who are very lucky are hosted in homes with internet access. It turns out I'm lucky this week and have a home with internet, so I just wanted to check in and let you all know that you can expect a much longer update before Monday. I'm going to take my time and really type it well and attach some pictures from over the past two weeks in Cabo, Tepic and now here in Culiacan.

Don't forget about me! I've been thinking about all of you who just started college and your senior year of high school all the time and wish I was there to experience it with you. I'm missing my family and friends more than ever and would like nothing more than to hear from you guys soon. Just shoot me an email and let me know how you're doing. It would really mean the world to me...I'm way homesick!

ryanaguirre@gmail.com

Until later in the week, enjoy every day you're given and don't take anything for granted. It can all be taken away in the blink of an eye.

La Paz, Mexico

2008-08-24T17:34:00.009-05:00

It's been nearly a week since my last entry, which was written on my way to Mexico but things have been so busy (as usual) so I've been neglecting my blog. Sorry! I'll go down the schedule for the week and fill you in on my day to day activities here in town.

Monday
We arrived at the airport in Cabo around 2:30 and immediately began our drive to La Paz, which is about a two hour car trip. I don't remember exactly what time we arrived her, but all that's important is that we made it alive because our driver was genuinely insane! The entire trip from Cabo to La Paz is through the mountains, so the roads are really curvy and dangerous and almost none of the turns have rails, so that just makes it even more crazy but to top it off it was raining the whole way. To make a long story short, the driver was speeding the entire time, we almost hit a cow in the middle of the road, and almost got killed by an 18 wheeler. I think it's safe to say that nobody slept during that car ride and if they did, it wasn't a comfortable nap by any means.

Tuesday
This was our Regional Learning day in La Paz. We woke up bright and early just like always and went to the local museum and a historic cathedral with a tour guide. It was so hot that everyone was really not too interested in the tour because we all knew that after the tour we would get to cool down at the beach! The beack was absolutely gorgeous (see pictures)! We stayed there for about 3 hours before going back to La Paz for host family pick up around 6.

Wednesday
Wednesday was promo day for me and a few others on the marketing team. We went to a very busy grocery store with lots of flyers and tried to get people to come to the show on Saturday. It was especially challenging because we had to speak in Spanish and I really don't speak Spanish so every time someone came into the store I'd say "Hola! Como estas? Viva la Gente Sabado a las ocho!" So if they asked me a question I couldn't really respond. I'd just say "No hablar Espanol." It was pretty relaxed but as usual, it was HOT!!!

Later that night we had a mini show at the Malicon. The Malicon is an oceanside town square type place which everyone in La Paz is familiar with. The show went very well (did I mention that it was really hot?) and lots of people attended. We even had a few potential applicants ask us about how they can apply for the program. It was a good day.

Thusrday
I'm having a hard time remembering what I did Thursday but I want to say it was a Promo Day also. I honestly don't remember and that's why I regret not updating my blog regularly. I do remember very vividly that it was my "host brother's" 5th birthday and we had a party that night! Since abunch of UWP students are all staying in the same neighborhood, everyone showed up and produced a pretty good turn out for little Enrique's birthday. It's so funny because he doesn't realize that none of us speak Spanish so he'll just talk to us 100 words per minute and all we can ever say back is "Si!" It was a fun night and everyone really enjoyed it...especially the Pinata! I forgot how entertaining a Pinata could be :-D

***Edit***
I just remembered after looking in my journal that today was a CI day! We went to a park that was to be used that night for a Women's Rights meeting and did some landscaping and maintainence. We moved sand from one side of the park to the other because the wind had displaced it and made it uneven. After that we painted the entire playground set as well as the lines on the basketball court. It took us literally all day and the heat was so ridiculous! It was the most public Community Service I've done so far because as we were working, people were constantly walking or driving by and staring at us partially because we all look way different than people here and also because they probably had never seen anybody ever do anything to this ugly park! It was a gratifying feeling but it came with a sense of awkwardness because nobody likes to feel different or be stared at and I'm no exception! :)

Friday
I actually do remember that today was another Promo Day because I have the pictures to prove it. They're all boring though, so I won't post them. But it was basically a repeat of our last promo day with the exception of getting to ride in a Mexican Taxi for the first time in my life. It was soooo hot because the car's A/C didn't work and the car was like a 1985 Toyota Tercel so it was way weird, but aside from that it was great! We had rehearsal all afternoon in preparation for the show that would happen Saturday night. While we were rehearsing, the set up crew was getting things ready at the stadium.

Today was also our last day to have our friends from the North Carolina School of Arts with us. They left early Saturday morning and had to say goodbye to all of us before even getting a chance to see our first show in Mexico. They were all awesome people and I'm really glad I got the chance to meet them.

Saturday
Show day! Our first show day in Mexico was extremely long and incredibly wet. We were all anticipating it to be 150 degrees or something, but it wasnt. Instead, it started raining about an hour into our rehearsal and it stayed steady for the majority of the day. We never got a chance to rehearse the entire show before it was time for the show to start so things were a little bumpy throughout the show, but we managed to make it through with no casualties, though one member of the cast suffered from heat exhaustion and had to be treated by paramedics. The night was long too. We didnt get to leave the stadium until 2am and at that time we went straight home to eat dinner (I fell asleep on the couch) and finally go to bed.

Sunday
Today is our last day in La Paz and is designated to be a host family day. I slept until 1:30 this afternoon and woke up to more rain. Looking on the bright side though, I woke up and my hair was completely intact which means I must not have moved much in my sleep. I love mornings (or afternoons) like that! We're going to the movies later and then dinner around 9 or so. I still have to finish my laundry and pack! I'm still a procrastinator...nothing has changed there!

Tomorrow we head to Cabo at 8:30 and everyone in the cast is super excited! On the down side, there's a tropical depression forming off the coast of Cabo which means rain, rain, and more rain! Hopefully we'll get some sunshine so we can head to the beach a time or two this week. Hasta Manana Amigos!

Arrival at Cabo Airport. It was verrrry small.

Part of the group getting ready for the ride from Cabo to La Paz.

In La Paz, waiting for the host family!

This was on the front door. How cute!?

The Texans at the museum in La Paz.

Lovisa & Natalie from Sweden and me at the cathedral.

A guy selling mangos on the beach! So cultural!

I like to hang out on the beach sometimes. It's fun.

P is for Promo

These people love us!

Ryan & Annika from Alabama

Yea...this really happens in Mexico.

These school girls love boys from Texas! Giggle Giggle

At the mini show...she loved me! :-D

Mini show...again.

Community Serivice at the park!

Yui from Japan and my host mom Marcia

The stage inside the baseball stadium

Viva La Mexico! Ugh Ugh Ugh Ugh Ugh!

2008-08-18T05:22:00.002-05:00

It's now 4:22am Mountain Standard Time and I'm sitting in Denver International waiting for my flight to Cabo. Our flight was supposed to leave at 6, but as fate would have it, it's been delayed by an hour and a half. That means that since we're flying from Denver to San Francisco and from there to Cabo, we may miss our flight to Cabo and end up having to take a later one, which means our 2 hour drive to La Paz will be further delayed which means it could be way late before we get there. I'm not happy.

It's been a while since I've updated my blog and I apologize for that. Just to do a brief run through of the last week, here it goes. Thursday was our show which was about 3/4 full and it was amazing! Everyone was in agreement that it was just downright great. It really was a morale booster for the cast after our not so savvy performance at dress rehearsal. Breckenridge was also an amazing stop. My host fam was amazing, as were my roommates and on our final night there we saw snow (in August, go figure)! I worked on the promotions team for a day there in town and went around passing out flyers and trying to persuade people to come to the show. It was actually really fun.

I'm really sorry that I'm not more detailed this morning, but I'm beyond tired! It's ridiculous. I haven't slept at all because we left our houses at 3 in order to get here by 4. This is ridiculous. The only thing that's making me happy at this point is the free WiFi! There better be free WiFi all over Mexico, or I am going to be one grumpy guy.

Adios Amigos!

Breckenridge = Amazing

2008-08-11T22:16:00.007-05:00

Today began with a bit of sadness and with a reminder that Up with People is a constantly changing lifestyle. I left the comfort of my first host family bright and early as Colleen dropped us off at 7:30 to board the bus. There were lots of tears, hugs, "I'll miss you's" and goodbyes, but through all of this we were all reminded that the future holds only the best for us! As a matter of fact, in my lunch bag that Colleen packed for me was a card that on the front read "Don't look back unless you're planning on going there."

We arrived in Breckenridge around 2pm after a short stop in Idaho Springs for regional learning. We stopped by the Phoenix Gold Mine which was way cool! Geologists estimate that there's still 85% left to be mined in the area, so they're working hard to find and extract the gold. We left there about 12:30 and we knew instantly when we arrived in Breckenridge because the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. The elevation here is just under 10,000 feet, so it goes without saying that it's the closest to heaven you can get in the United States. I just don't know how else to describe it other than to tell you that it's not like anything you'll ever see in Texas. If you don't believe me, consult the pictures. They don't lie.

After a few hours of hanging out at our meeting sight here in town (a middle school which will serve as our headquarters for the week) it was finally time for host family pick up! In order to stay with the UWP tradition of finding host families with a "secret code," we were given a season and year during which the Olympic Games took place and we had to find the family that was holding the flag of the corresponding country. I know it sounds confusing, but it wasn't too difficult. It turns out we were looking for the flag of South Korea and one of my roommates is from there, so it was incredibly easy. Now here comes the amazing part. On the allocation sheet which tells us all about our host family (the family name, how many kids, if they have pets, their phone number and address, etc) and our roommates. My allocation sheet told me that I'd be staying with Seoung Baum from South Korea, Gijs (pronounced Heiss) from The Netherlands, and Zach from Colorado. What the sheet didn't tell us is that four other cast mates would also be staying with us under the same roof! Tina from Germany, Linda from Finland, Caitlin from Arizona, and Laura, a professor at the North Carolina School For Performing Arts who's here to film a documentary about Up with People were all staying with us too! The house we're in is absolutely incredible. Our host mom, Caroline, has lived in the area for about 20 years and just recently built the house we're in a few years back. We had lasagna, salad, and garlic bread for dinner which made me think of home and how much I miss my mom's cooking because she makes the same exact meal all the time! Everything was great and we sat around the table (all 10 or 11 of us) talking all about Up with People, how we learned about it, how we raised our money, and what our expectations are for the program, for almost two hours. It's funny how instinctively pessimistic we all our as individuals when it comes to dealing with new and potentially uncomfortable situations. However on the other hand, tonight has been my second affirmation that new doesn't always necessarily mean scary or negative at all. Caroline and her family are a great bunch of people who find great comfort in the faith and religion and their generosity truly shines through because to be quite frank, it takes a special kind of person to welcome eight strangers into their home!

Up with People has left me speechless yet again. I'm continually amazed by the grace and goodwill exhibited by the host families I've come into contact with thus far. Next week will be the first true test of just how flexible and willing I am to step out of my comfort zone as I have my first cross-cultural experience with my first Mexican host family. Speaking of Mexico, we found out today that we'll be flying out on two separate flights. The first will leave extremely early Saturday morning (5am to be exact) but lucky for me I'm not on that flight. The second group, which is a much smaller group of about 30 will leave sometime on Monday and meet the cast in La Paz, Mexico. I can't wait!!!

Goodbye Colleen! :'(

Ryan & Libby

Enough Said

Ryan & Celiana from Venezuela!

Ryan & Yui from Japan!

The Phoenix Mine near Idaho Springs, CO

Things are pretty dangerous inside a real live mine!

Our tour guide, Mark

Martin (Cast Manager) and his "Travel Day" Hat!

My new home in Breckenridge!

My new room and roommate Gijs from The Netherlands!

Ryan & Linda from Finland!

Dinner pictures are awesome!

Laura from the North Carolina film crew!

Linda from Finland making Tea!

The lovely Caroline!

Adios Denver!

2008-08-10T11:37:00.003-05:00

Today is my last day in Denver, Colorado, which is a mixed feeling. I'm beyond excited to get on the road and start doing what we're meant to do, which is everything not show related, but at the same time I'm a little sad, scared, and anxious. I'm sad to leave Colleen & Jug because they've been so accomadating and gracious over the last four weeks and I'm not sure if my next host family will be as great as them. I'm anxious to see what life on the road is like because everyone has told me that if I'm exhausted now, I'll be a zombie once the tour starts. Hopefully, they're just exaggerating because I wouldn't make a very good zombie at all.

Yesterday was our first show and it went way better than we were all anticipating. The only real problem was that during our opening number, the music stopped, the microphones shut off, and everybody was freaked out for about 2 seconds. I was extremely proud of the cast when nobody stopped and did the "Dear in the headlights" look on stage, or stopped singing and started crying. Instead, the whole cast pulled together (it's ironic that that's what the song is actually about), kept singing and dancing, and finished the song with poise.

Everything else went as planned without any flukes or major mess ups. The best part of the whole first show experience was that nobody was really nervous. Sure, we were all unsure of what the outcome would be, but nobody was hyperventhilating in the corner, or crying uncontrollably or anything like that. One of my favorite parts of the show is that before, during intermission, and after the show, the cast mingles with the audience. It's a completely different concept than any "traditional theater" experiences I've had because we get the opportunity to break the fourth wall and interact with the people that are monetarily supporting our program. Last night I met Laura Lynn's parents who came in from North Platte, Nebraska to see the show. They are great people, so it's no wonder Laura Lynn turned out the way she did. I also got to meet Mark Scholz, a major name in the Christian Rock genre and an Up with People alum. It turns out that when he travelled in 1995, Colleen & Jug hosted him, so she's pretty fond of the guy. As a matter of fact, he's having a concert in town tonight and he gave Colleen a bunch of free tickets, so that's how we're spending our last night in Denver.

We leave bright and early in the morning for Breckenridge, Colorado, where we'll spend a week doing community service and our show is on Thursday. After that, we're off to Mexico for our five week tour of La Paz, Cabo, Tepic, Culiacan, and Hermosillo. Lots of pictures and interesting stories are soon to come.

Is It Monday Yet?

2008-08-07T22:59:00.002-05:00

All I can say after today is that I am beyond ready to get this show on the road. It's safe to say that today was my worst day in Up with People so far and I just really want to get into the bulk of what Up with People is really all about and forget about all this "show" business. The show is definitely a great part of the program because it's perhaps the most public aspect, but at the same time it's so divisive. I'd like to think that after we're done with staging the show will be put on the back burner and we can start focusing on the things that make Up with People awesome. Monday is the beginning of the tour which will be a great morale booster for everybody.

The highlight of my day was finding out that I'll be in charge of creating a newsletter for our Advance Teams to stay up to date with what's happening in the cast. It was also a bit of a disappointment because it meant that I didn't get the education internship I applied for. Tomorrow will be better and today was a great learning experience.

Premiere Week Is Here!

2008-08-03T20:06:00.007-05:00

Today we went to the mall in an effort to find me an outfit to wear for the show that's coming up in six days and to make a long story short, it was a miserable failure. Either I'm way too picky or all of the stores in the mall don't carry good stuff, but regardless of the reason, I left empty handed and in more of a crunch than ever before. I'm sure I'll find something nice before Saturday...right?

I've been working a lot on my singing lately. The most difficult part is learning the lyrics of this crazy Spanish song, but I think I've just about got it down. Tomorrow one of the dance instructors is going to teach me have to move my hips like Ricky Martin, and I should be good to go after that. Now all I need is the ugly red silk shirt they're going to make me wear just for this one song. Ewww!

Colleen and Jug's anniversary is on August 5th and in honor of that, Jug went and bought Colleen a MacBook Pro today! She's been wanting one for a while and this was apparently the perfect occasion for it. She's been learning the ropes and falling in love with it all day and we're all so proud of her! That makes 4 Macs under one roof now. Apple should be proud.

Colleen's daughter was in town this weekend along with her husband and two daughters. Amy and Skip both traveled in Up with People in 1992, which is actually where they met. They have to daughters, Amber (2 years) and Alana (5 months). Amber is the cutest kid I think I've ever seen (except for me, of course) and she has the most awesome personality. In fact, we had a tea party until about 10:30 on Friday night and it was super funny! Besides being a load of fun, Amber is pretty smart too. Colleen wrote a bunch of words down on a piece of paper and Amber read them all. Alana on the other hand is still super small and in baby mode. She doesn't cry too much, but when she does, believe me, you'll know it! She's got quite a personality for a 5 month old too. At dinner on Friday she was sitting on Colleen's lap and just kept posing for whoever was looking. She's going to be way photogenic when she's older! I had a great time with the extended host family, but they had to leave today to get back down to their home in Pueblo. Hopefully, they'll be able to make it back up here next weekend for our first performance, but if not they'll be able to see us once we get back from Mexico and pass through Colorado Springs, which is pretty close to their house.

Our premiere show is in 6 days! Here's to the start of a grueling week...ugh!!!

Oye El Boom

Ryan & Meron from Ethiopia

Russ & Amber

Colleen & Alana

The only good thing I found at the mall today...

Colleen and her new MacBook Pro!

Yay for Saturday rehearsals!

Bum Day, Anybody?!

2008-08-01T23:33:00.003-05:00

Today was a bit of a downer for me and I'm not exactly sure why. I'm sure everybody has days where they just wake up in a bummed out mood and that's exactly how today started. There's no one specific reason as to why I'm bummed but if I had to put my finger on it, I could name a few things.

I don't miss home at all. I miss all the lovely people back home, though. Corpus Christi is the ugliest city I've ever been to (or lived in for that matter) and I have no desire to go back there, but I want to see all my family and friends! I've got 95 new best friends right here in Denver and they are the best group of people you could ever meet, but there's just something about my friends back home that make them unique. They don't just remind me of home, they are home in a sense, and that's a sense of comfort I haven't felt since I've arrived in Denver.

I sang...in front of people. If you're sitting at your computer back in Texas reading this, I know your eyes probably got really big just now and the first thing to cross your mind was "Oh My God! He sings?!" Well...just so you know, I don't sing, and I made that quite apparent in front of the entire cast and staging staff yesterday during blocking. And as if that wasn't entertaining enough, I had to do my best Ricky Martin impression because the song I sang is completely in Spanish and has an insane latin feel to it. I think that if I learn the words, practice singing, learn to move my hips like Ricky, and get a bit more confident I should do just fine at our first show which happens in oh...about seven days! I'm stressing about that big time, but then again, the entire cast is in overdrive mode this week trying to get things ready for Friday.

Aside from my Ricky Martin impression, the show is looking awesome. Of the 70 or so girls in the cast, I'd say that at least half of them are phenomenal singers. When I say that, I honestly mean that they are absolutely amazing. So, needless to say that we'll be having great female soloists in the show with plenty of backups too. I wish everybody back home could come watch a show!

Tomorrow is our last work day of the week; our "Friday" so to speak, so we'll be hitting it hard once again. Hopefully I'll get a chance tomorrow night to go shopping for my show costume, which I still haven't bought yet. Procrastinators unite! Wish me luck with this whole solo business and I'll keep you all updated!

This One's Short, But Fun!

2008-07-30T21:44:00.002-05:00

A few pictures from my first week in Denver. Old, I know, but it took me forever to get around to finishing this thing. Love it!

This is Russ being himself...ugh.

Community Impact Is Itchy!

2008-07-29T22:24:00.006-05:00

Before I even being discussing CI, I want to take a quick minute to let everybody who many not have heard that Randy Paush passed away on July 25. I didn't hear about it until tonight and I'm watching a Primetime special commemorating his life and honoring the family he left behind. If you aren't familiar with his story, just read about him and be inspired. I just cried watching this show. It's just way too sad for me to watch without crying.

Community impact is essentially a fancy name for community service. Now, unlike back home where community service is treated as a punishment for kids who get in trouble at school or people who commit lewd acts in public, in Up with People, it's considered a privelage, responsibility, and civic duty. In other words, without community service, Up with People would be just another group of self absorbed performers with no real purpose for sharing their talents. Most people don't know or understand the extent of Up with People's community impact, but let me be the first to tell you that over the years, we've done some pretty incredible things. Just to give you a quick idea of how serious UWP is about community impact, all proceeds from ticket sales to our shows are donated to charitable organizations in the communities we perform in. As a matter of fact at last year's opening performance, about $50,000 was donated to a charity in Denver.

Today's CI project was done in cooperation with the Coalition for the Upper South Platte, which is a group that focuses on improving the area of Colorado which was badly burned by the Hayman Wildfire back in 2002. Our objective today was to clear debris, pull weeds, spread grass seeds, and plant trees on a very small portion of the 138,000 acres affected by the fire. Because the fire was so widespread, there are still areas that have yet to see even the first stages of repair.

We split into three groups with about 35 in each group and with three different tasks. Group one (my group) was in charge of clearing debris (large pieces of wood and bark), raking up the soil, laying grass seed, and covering it all way straw for protection. Group two pulled weeds all day to make way for group three's task which was planting new trees. Overall, we worked for about four hours and when we left, the people in charge were quite impressed with the effieciency of our work.

Tomorrow is back to the nitty gritty of show prep and rehearsal. We have just 11 days until our opening show and there's still so much to do! Stress will be a huge factor over the next week and a half as we all finish learning and continuing to perfect the material before August 9! Wish me luck and leave me comments!

PICTURES OF COMMUNITY IMPACT

Ryan and Abeba from Ethiopia

Notice all the burned trees in the background. So sad!

Raking some soil!

I found a pine cone!

JC spreads his seed without breaking Rule #9

Head Honcho telling us what to do

Ryan and Russ

We got really gross and sweaty

You will never EVER see us like this again!

Ryan and Head Honcho after a job well done!

These kids can move some logs pretty good!

All cleaned up and representing Portland!

My "Me Page"

2008-07-29T00:28:00.004-05:00

I spent all night making my "Me Page" for the cast binder. The way it works is at every show they set up a table to sell Up with People merchandise along with an informational poster board about UWP. But also on the table is a three ring binder full of "Me Pages" for everyone in the cast. Each person designs their own to reflect their taste, interests, and personalities so that as the audience walks in, they can read all about us! So, I spent about three or four hours making my "Me Page" super awesome! Hope you like it!

Tomorrow is our first community impact day. We're going into the mountains to help landscape an area that was badly damaged by a wild fire a few months back. We'll be planting trees, grass, and pulling gross weeds to make the place look super beautiful like the rest of Colorado! Pictures tomorrow night!

"Me Page"

Finally, A Real Weekend!

2008-07-27T20:23:00.006-05:00

Before I even think about bringing you up to speed on my weekend amazingness, I have to take you all the way back to Thursday, which is when I had one of the best moments of my Up with People life (so far). I had just gone through the lunch line and was getting my drink, when the girl next to me, Miron from Ethiopia, turned to me and said "I want to know you!" I was of course flattered that one of the few people I hadn't met yet wanted to know me so much that she went out of her way to approach me and invite me to her table for lunch. So, I of course obliged and ate lunch with her and completely ignored everybody at the table except for her because I already knew everybody else. We talked about our families, our interests, our goals in UWP, and of course the delicious lunch (ahem). It's so strange how two people from two completely different places can have so much in common with each other, despite the many cultural and linguistic differences. If there's anything I've learned so far from Up with People and my gorgeous new Ethiopian gal pals, it's that the only thing keeping us from realizing our similarities is ourselves. In order to truly make the best of this experience, I plan to continue to see past the many differences we share as cast mates and enjoy the many different personas represented in Cast B 2008!

Internships, internships, internships! What can I say about internships. Up with People offers so many different opportunities to be an intern and learn professional skills that can easily be cross applied to the "real world." Internships last six weeks and are pretty demanding from what I've heard, but I'm always up for a challenge! I'm currently looking to be an Education Intern, which would mean I'd be helping educate the cast on social and cultural issues by way of presentations. I'm also looking into the Admissions Internship, which of course deals with recruiting people (mostly high school and college students) for the program, also through presentations. Now aside from internships is the opportunity to do advance work for the cast, which means I'd leave the cast for an extended period of time to set up the logistics of a city that comes a little later in the tour. Advance work involves getting meals, host families, and much more set up for the cast. I think I'd enjoy any of the three aforementioned opportunities and could really learn a lot from each of them. Oh, and the reason I'm writing about this is because applications for the first round of internships are due Tuesday and I haven't done mine yet.

This weekend we actually had a real weekend! Saturday and Sunday were all mine to sleep, shop, sleep, or whatever I wanted to do. Saturday started at about 1PM (which is when I woke up) when we made our way to Target to get Russ a new suitcase. Somehow he managed to break his suitcase before the tour even began...don't ask how, he's just Russ. After Target, it was time for my first trip to the mall. As horrible with I am with money, I managed to not buy a single thing (except for Starbucks)! After shopping was a trip to Boulder, which was awesome. If you think Austin has a lot of hippies, you'd go into culture shock if you went to Boulder!

Today was a day at the theme park. I took lots of pictures, but only two or three of me came out good. My hair was terrible and it doesn't help that I'm completely poor all the time. I'm horrible with money. Sorry mom...I love you, but I am so horrible with money. I love you!!! Anyway, theme park was amazing; rollercoasters and all. I felt like I was in Texas for a while because it was so hot! I thought Colorado was supposed to be nice and lovely all the time, which it has been up until the past few days! Gosh...Texas is following me wherever I go!

FYI, this blog went from absolutely detailed to completely short and tacky in a matter of seconds because of an unexpected turn of events. As I was sitting here typing my blog I was having a side conversation with host mom and Jeff, who is moving back home to Tucson after a year long affiliation with Up with People. Needless to say, he's experiencing all the things I'll likely be experiencing when I have to undergo "reentry" at the end of the tour. Colleen has such a way with words and as tacky as it sounds, she brought me to tears because she is such a loving person. Despite what you may think, nobody back home can truly understand the comfort, generosity, and love you will feel in this program. We talked a lot earlier about how incredibly generous a family has to be to want to host an Up with People kid in their home. Aside from having the responsibility of transporting us where we need to be, providing two meals a day (three on weekends), allowing us to use their water for showers and laundry, and to sleep in their house, host families are expected to do all of the aforementioned things with a smile on their pretty little faces! Colleen's response took my completely by surprise and was actually the tear jerker. She said "You think of it as how much we're having to sacrifice to be a host family, but I think of it in terms of how much I get from you all as people."

I love Up with People. I love everybody back home; Mom, Jason, Ronnie & Allen, Grandma, all the friends, and all the contributors who made this amazing experience possible. I love you Dad....all the way in Afghanistan. I love all of my peers who are riding this insane joy ride with me; Cast B 2008!

PICTURES!
Pictures are in backwards order today. I promise I'm not dumb...just tired.

Collen made me make a cake!

Measuring!

Love the tag team effort...

I bake! :-D

Ryan & Stewart from Maine

Starbucks spelled my name wrong again!!!

Ryan & Anika from Germany!

Ryan dressed up nice and Colleen loved it!

Pretty Ryan and Jordan from Arizona!

Pretty Ryan and Laura Lynn from Nebraska!

What Is Regional Learning, Anyway?!

2008-07-25T23:15:00.002-05:00

I can safely say that Up with People has been a freaking amazing experience so far and I've had absolutely no reservations about being here. Don't get me wrong, I miss my family and friends, but I totally am enjoying all my lovely friends! A group of impartial and completely open minded people is a welcome change for the small town life I've lived for the past 13 years and I can honestly say that these people have encouraged to me to be myself and made me so comfortable just being Ryan! It's awesome... I love it!

Aside from the singing and dancing and as of late, band rehearsals, Up with People places an emphasis on community service and regional education, which basically means being aware of the places we visit and the history that goes along with them. Tuesday will be our first "CI" or community impact day but today was our first regional learning day. Since the UWP building is located in downtown Denver, it was only fitting that regional learning take place at the Colorado State Capitol Building. FYI, it was designed by the same guy who designed the Texas, Michigan, and US Capitols, so the shape was very similar with a super cool dome on top and everything, but overall the building was much smaller than ours back in Texas. And yes, every time I told someone that the Texas Capitol is bigger than the US Capitol, their response was always the same; "Everything's bigger in Texas!" Well after we took the Capitol tour, we started a scavenger hunt which spanned the entire downtown Denver area and lasted about 4 or 5 hours. To make a long story short, we got lost, it rained on us, and there were homeless people everywhere and on top of that, it was incredibly windy, so my hair was pitiful by the end of the day. I was very upset! Oh, and on top of everything else, I forgot my camera on one of the most eventful days of the entire trip so far so I had to rely on the picture taking skills of others which did not make me happy at all. Besides all of that, regional learning was great!

Before RL, we had a meeting with our home teams, which is basically just a randomly assigned group of about 10 people that we'll meet with throughout the tour to be like a support group for when we may need something from one another. So today we met in our usual spot (in a small park behind the Sherman Center) to discuss how we're all doing with adjusting to Denver life. I didn't realize it until now because I've been so busy with life, but I really do miss a lot of things about home. When we were going around the group discussing how we deal with our home sickness, one guy got really emotional while telling us about the super sweet note his mom wrote to him in his host family book and since my mom and aunt did the same exact thing I got really emotional too! I miss everybody so much and I'm so sad that I can't see you all as much as I have in the past, but I'll be home soon!!!

We actually have a real weekend starting tomorrow, rather than having to work Monday through Saturday with only Sunday off. So, with that in mind, we've got big plans for the weekend. Saturday will be our official "go shopping for anything you forgot/need/really want from the mall" day and Sunday will be our "go to the amusement park and hope you don't get on the one ride that fatally malfunctions" day. Lots of pictures to come from this weekend, so don't be a blog stranger! I miss you all and love reading personal letters and messages

Week Two!

2008-07-21T00:07:00.002-05:00

Today was my second host family day, which signified the end of my first week in Denver. Everybody agrees that it seems like we've been here for way longer than a week and it's true! I feel like I've known everybody for weeks and I can't wait to spend the next few months with these super cool guys and girls.

For our day off (our first one since we started staging) we slept in late and went down to the local music store. Russ needed guitar strings and Javi needed a practice pad for practicing, but we wound up leaving with more than we bargained for. Russ, being the spontaneous soul that he is came across a Pepto Bismol Pink Hello Kitty guitar and wound up buying it. I don't understand why he wasted his money on such an ugly piece of junk, but whatever.

After the music store, we went to a pool party that Lexi and Isabel's host parents were having for us. There wasn't a huge group, so it was pretty relaxed and enjoyable. Oh and by the way, these people had a gorgeous house! It was probably the biggest house I've ever been inside of.

We left the party around 7:30 and drove back to Brighton to see the new Batman movie. It was really cool, but I didn't understand most of it because I'm not up to speed on the whole "Batman scene." Heath Ledger was amazing as the joker...kinda weird but amazing.

Tomorrow is the official beginning of week two. Javi and I are the only two drummers left in the running so either way we'll be switching off as primary and backup drummers. I have no idea who will be primary and secondary and it really all depends on where we get put in the show. It's a complicated process, really but it should all be sorted out by the end of this week. Enjoy the new pictures and keep checking back for new blogs!

I'm Tired

2008-07-16T23:15:00.008-05:00

Today was the longest day I've had so far, so I won't be writing a novel tonight. Instead, enjoy some pictures from the last two days. If you have questions about any pictures or just want to talk you can call me, email me, or leave comments! Miss you all!

All Work And No Play!

2008-07-14T22:58:00.007-05:00

Today was the beginning of UWP work and boy was it a workout! I honestly don't think I've sweated this much since marching band (grosssss) but hey, it's so worth it! One thing I'll say about Up with People is that even the work is fun! Who would have thought I'd ever utter those words?!

Things started out bright and early with a bus ride to downtown Denver, which is where all of our staging activities will take place. The Sherman Center is over 100 years old and has been the central location for all things ballroom and convention related, but during staging Up with People has it reserved only for us; all five floors of it (and the basement too!) Fyi, it's the building with the "Welcome Up with People" marquee in my last blog. Anyway, after an early morning Starbucks run, a bit of walking, and lots of sunshine, we started our UWP day with morning meeting, which is exactly what it sounds like - a meeting in the morning. After morning meeting we had our first expectations sessions, also known as rules, which put everybody to sleep. But at the end, everybody woke up and listened closely to the words of wisdom that my wonderful host mom, Colleen, had for everyone. Colleen spoke about the experiences she and "Jug" have had since they began hosting in 1987. She told of her first hosting experience and how incredibly sad she and her family were to see their first host son leave after his month at staging and how the Eastman family solemnly swore that they would never host again because saying goodbye is just way too hard. Luckily for us, and 120 other Up with People kids, they changed their mind and hosted again the next year in 1988 and every year up until the present and have given the gift of love and comfort to so many deserving kids. Colleen went on to tell of her saddest times as a host mom; sitting in the hospital with a host daughter to learn that her 20 year old life may end because she had been diagnosed with diabetes; comforting a host son as he learned that his grandfather had passed away in his native Venezuela; offering condolences over the phone to a former host son who was losing his mom to terminal illness. She told of the happy times too; attending four former host kids' weddings; awaiting the arrival of her and Jug's second host grandchild; eating Olga's phenominal tortilla soup for the first time. The Eastmans have been there for countless former host kids including the one who had a flat tire while driving through Colorado (They picked her and her boyfriend up and allowed them to say at their house for the night) and the former host son who had plans to visit New Orleans the week of Katrina but had to take a detour to stay with them in Colorado instead. Of course, by this time I was on the verge of tears for a few reasons. First off, I had never in my life seen anyone so passionate or loving about their role in the world. Colleen and Jug Eastman have opened their homes to 121 host children thus far and spent countless amounts of money on us while expecting nothing in return. They've shared their stories, their histories, their food, and ultimately their lives with us and have only requested that we share our culture and families with them. Unlike some families, if you were to ask Colleen specific details about any of her host kids, she could recite them like clockwork without missing a beat. That how passionate she is about what she does! As a matter of fact, at dinner a few nights ago the topic of dream jobs came up and as we all shared our dream jobs with one another, Colleen was able to do so by simply saying "I already have mine." Simply awesome. As she concluded her speech, Colleen reminded all of us that as Up with People students we are all family and we will all be there for each other some years down the road and before she concluded she said "So with that being said, I welcome you Russ, Ryan, and Javier into the Eastman family as sons for life." I cried...I really did. This woman truly is amazing and I have no idea how I'm going to leave her in August.

After expectations, the group went downstairs for lunch, which was awesome. Turkey goulash with cole slaw, corn bread and of course fresh fruit! After lunch came our first workshop on goal setting and then it was time for a brief intro to the show. After that it was aerobics time (don't ask) and then home! Today was truly awesome and as usual I've left out so many details! There's just too much happening here to capture it all in a blog, but what I've neglected to tell you about, I'm sure my pictures will make up for! Enjoy!

Opening Session!

2008-07-13T22:23:00.004-05:00

So today really wasn't an incredibly busy day. We didn't even have to get started until about 3 this afternoon. We met at the Sherman Center downtown to watch a quick UWP show and meet everybody again. There was also a quick reception afterwards where we just got to hang out and talk for a little while.

Tomorrow is the official start of "work." We're riding the bus downtown at 7 in the morning in order to get there in time. I have no idea what to expect or what tomorrow holds for us, but I guess I'll find out!

Denver!

2008-07-12T22:43:00.006-05:00

So I've been in Denver a total of 30 hours and so far I've had the time of my life. Aside from meeting some amazing people, being placed with the best host family in the entire world with the two coolest room mates ever (no joke), and having an awesome time seeing the sights here in Colorado, I've experienced the best weather day ever!

Yesterday I touched down at Denver International at 4:30; 15 minutes early! I was particularly excited to be early because for the past two weeks or so, Frontier Airlines has been running predominately behind schedule on all flights to Colorado. I have no idea why, but apparently there was some wort of crazy weather phenomena preventing on time flights. When I arrived, I was greeted by a bunch of Up with People staff and students waiting to be driven to the convention center to meet. They were all super cool and of course, I loved them all! The first person I met who I actually "knew" was Kelsey Wiggins from California. She's super cool and we became best friends and walking buddies for the rest of the night.

We arrived at the convention center at about 5:30 and went through registration. Once we got done filling out missing forms and getting acquainted with the road staff, we got to eat pizza! Who knew they had Domino's in Colorado?! (Oh and by the way, Dairy Queen isn't exclusive to Texas, like the billboards say. Just thought I'd let everybody know that real quick.) So, Kelsey and I grabbed our pizza and went into the next room which was the designated "hang out here until the host families get here room." We walked into the room and I was talking to a table full of kiddos in a "loud" voice and everybody in the room got quiet, like I was announcing something important, so I felt obligated to make the announcement to the entire room, rather than just to the one table. So, without missing a beat, I say "Hey everybody, I'm Ryan from Texas, and I don't have a horse!" It was a bit spastic, but well received. It was after that when I finally got to meet my best friend for life, Lexi from Maine. She and I decided that we had better take a best friends picture (which you can find below) to secure our friendship. To tell you the truth, I'm not very good with names so I don't remember anybody's names except for the few that I've met on Facebook and my two super cool roommates.

Around 8 or so, our host families arrived at the convention center to pick us up, but it wasn't as cut and dry and it sounds. Instead of just meeting our families in a typically boring way, Up with People made a game out of it. They gave us slips of paper with our host families names and a theme, but of course we have no idea who's who, so the names didn't help at all. My roommates and I were give the theme "Message in a Bottle," so we had to find the person with something relating to a message in a bottle. We walked around for about 5 minutes until we see Colleen Eastman (a 15 year Up with People employee and the best host mom EVER) holding a plastic water bottle, which I figured just to be full of water for her to drink, but no...there was totally a message in it. So, we were obviously super excited to find out that we were Collen's host kids. She's the greatest host mom on the face of this earth and she's got the track record to prove it. She's been hosting UWP kids since the mid 80's and since that time she's hosted over 100 of us. As a matter of fact, Russ, Javier, and I are numbers 119, 120, and 121. By the way, Javier is 22 and from Texas and Russ is 20 and from Maryland. They're the most down to earth guys I've ever met and have been a real blast to hang out with. I'm so glad I have an awesome host family for this stretch of the trip, since we'll be staying together until August 11th. It really makes things so much easier.

Today was a free day to get acquainted with our host family and go sight seeing if we wanted to. For the international kids, it was more of a sleep day, since they all had flights in excess of 20 hours. The group of girls from Ethiopia had something like a 25 hour flight if my memory serves me right, and all the Europeans were the same. I'm so glad I only had to fly for 2 hours! Anyway, Colleen had the day all planned out for us, so we woke up and left the house by 10:30 in order to get everything done before we were to meet Jug (her husband) for dinner back in Denver. We started out by heading to Red Rocks Amphitheater just outside of Denver, which is an outdoor stage surrounded by natural rock formations in the mountains. If you're an Amazing Race fan, they started the show there a few seasons back and it truly was awesome to watch. Everyone from The Beatles to Sheryl Crow to Incubus and most recently, Journey has played there, so it's definitely a credible place.

After that, we went over to Idaho Springs, which is just up the road and ate at the most amazing pizza place ever. Sorry mom, but it was even better than B&J's down in Corpus. It was awesome! After pizza, we just walked up and down the downtown area because the weather was perfect! At 8,000 feet above sea level, the air is so crisp and cool that the sun has no effect on your mood whatsoever. The only downside to it is that my lips are insanely chapped, but of course I brought the trusty Chapstick! We drove down to Golden (home of the largest beer brewery in the entire world - Coors) and took the brewery tour. For "legal adults" they serve free beer during and after the tour in the Coors Lounge, so it goes without saying that it's the hottest spot in town. Well, once we finished the tour, we drove back to Denver to meet Colleen's husband at her favorite restaurant, The White Fence Farm. It is literally a huge plot of land that used to be a fully functional family farm until it was converted into a restaurant 35 years ago. The place was huge! It seats 600 people and the waitstaff consists of 50 servers, 25 assistants, and something like 40 kitchen attendants. They don't mess around in Colorado when it comes to food. So far everything I've eaten here has been amazing! I love it.

I know I'm forgetting so many details about what's happened in the past day and a half, but I am beyond tired! They say the altitude really takes its toll on Texas kiddos because it's such a foreign concept back home. Right now I'm sitting about 6,000 feet above sea level at the Eastman house, so the altitude is a constant thing here. I'm really grateful that I've got an awesome host family and roommates. I don't know what I'd do if my first month here was a terrible experience because there's no doubt that it sets the tone for the entire tour. Keep checking for updates because I'm going to try as hard as I can to update daily so that every blog doesn't turn into a novel like this one has. Check out the pictures and leave me lots of comments! I miss you all and love hearing from you!

Everything Is Changing Just Like We Always Knew It Would!

2008-07-07T10:28:00.006-05:00

I've talked a lot before about how drastically my life will change while I'm away and how different things will be when I get back, but it isn't until you actually make the changes and undergo the transformation that you truly realize just how different things are! I haven't made the big jump just yet (that comes on Friday) but I'm taking baby steps in that direction. Leaving Corpus is something I've dreamt about for literally years and now that the day is finally here I can't help but reflect on the 13 years I spent here.

Tomorrow morning I'll be leaving for

Austin to live out the remainder of the week at my mom's house. Since I'll be flying out of Austin, it just makes sense to spend the week up there to give myself a little bit of time to buy last minute supplies, get all packed up, say goodbye to everybody, and get gone. That means that today is my last chance to see the people that I've spent the bulk of my life with, including my dad. He'll be heading to Afghanistan exactly a week after I leave for Denver and will spend the next year working as a contractor there. My dad and I share an interesting relationship. Like all fathers and sons, we have disagreements from time to time, but to be completely honest, the last few months I've spent living here with him have been some of the best days I've ever had with my dad. I've gotten to spend more time with him than I ever have in my life because when I was smaller he was always gone with the Navy, and then when my parents got divorced, I saw him once a week (if that) for lunch or dinner. Since November, when I moved in with him, the amount of time I've really gotten to spend with him has really been rewarding. I didn't know when I moved in that the few months we spent together would be our last chance to see one another for an entire year, so it goes without saying that today is a bit of a sad day.

Thursday was one of the best days I've had in a while because I have the greatest group of friends in the world. Somehow my wits failed me because Dakota and Alex were

able to craft an entire surprise dinner party without me catching on even once! Kudos to them for being super sneaky. We went to Chili's Thursday night for what I thought was just dinner as usual, but when we got there a crowd of 15-20 of my closest friends was waiting in the lobby. I was beyond surprised that they had all shown up to say goodbye, but pleased nonetheless. Somehow DJ (yes he is the Golden Guard of the Portland Pool) managed to find time to show up too after I hadn't seen him in over a year! We won't even go into some of the gifts I got because then I'd have to tell you that somebody bought me a Hannah Montana Barbie! Anyway, it was a great night and I'll never forget it!

My last day in Corpus will be spent packing up my room and fitting it all in my car somehow. If anybody is bored or feeling generous, I've got plenty of boxes, lots of stuff, and only two hands to get it all done with. I'm leaving bright and early in the morning, so everything has to be done tonight! Let the fun begin!

Excitement + Stress = Stresscitement!

2008-07-01T21:04:00.003-05:00

The countdown is down to the single digits now with only 9 days remaining until I arrive in Denver! Lots of excitement is looming around the house, but along with it is a stress level completely foreign to me!

We'll start with the excitement. I just won a new camera on eBay to take with me in my travels. It's a Canon SD30 (Red)...well, just look at the picture! It'll be a great accessory for my MacBook, which I'm using to write this blog, by the way.

Now, if you think you've ever been stressed out about anything in your life, listen to this and then try and tell me you're stressed. I get to bring one suitcase with me for six months. In this suitcase I have to fit a suit and tie, a few pairs of shoes, casual, work, and exercise clothes, a swimsuit, all the toiletries (including the hair products), 18 gifts for host families, a host family book (so I can always remember my wonderful hosts), and some other stuff I can't think of right now. My suitcase can't exceed 44 pounds and according to the handbook I should "leave room for extra items I may acquire" throughout the trip. I'm going to have a horrible time with that. I know I'm going to forget something, I just have to wait and see what that something is. Oh, and in my one carryon bag (which will be a backpack for me) I will be holding my electronics (laptop, cameras, ipod, etc) and maybe a few things that might not fit in my suitcase. Packing is not my forte, so it'll be interesting to see how I do. Wish me luck!

My next blog will probably be written from Denver, so be sure and check back for it!

Home Sweet Home

2008-06-21T23:42:00.004-05:00

For those of you who are concerned about my well being, fret no more! I'm back in Texas free of harm, though I almost died of heat exhaustion in Las Vegas. Well, not really, but I sure felt like I was going to if I had to go another day in that town! Don't get me wrong; we had loads of fun, but the heat sure did put a damper on things. For details about Vegas, see my previous blog.

A huge source of excitement in my life came to be today. I finally got to buy my MacBook that I have been waiting for nearly two years to buy. It's beautiful pearl white with a super shiny screen and lots of guts. This thing could put anybody's laptop to shame...it's that impressive.

There's one other huge source of excitement to be mentioned. The UWP Cast B 2008 itinerary has changed slightly. We're skipping Provo and going straight to Salt Lake City, which should still be fun. We'll see how things progress and how many more times they change the itinerary before July 11th. Take a look...

United States: July 11 - August 17
Orientation: Denver, CO - July 11 - August 11
Breckenridge, CO - August 11 - August 17

Mexico: August 18 - September 21
La Paz - August 18 - August 25
Cabo - August 25 - September 1
Tepic - September 1 - September 8
Culiacan - September 8 - September 15
Hermosillo - September 15 - September 21

United States: September 22 - November 16
Arizona: September 22 - September 29
Albuquerque, NM - September 29 - October 6
Colorado Springs, CO - October 6 - October 13
Salt Lake City, UT - October 13 - October 20
Wyoming - October 20 - October 27
Wyoming/South Dakota - October 27 - November 3
Sioux Falls, SD - November 3 - November 10
North Platte, NE - November 10 - November 16

The Philippines: November 17 - December 16
Manila - November 17 - December 4
Cebu/Subic - December 5 - December 16 (End of Tour)

Viva Las Vegas!

2008-06-18T11:43:00.014-05:00

Pardon the cliche, but it's not even 10am yet and I'm not exactly feeling creative. Today is my fifth day in Las Vegas, and this is the first opportunity I've had to get online but there's a very good reason for that. Aside from being busy sightseeing and competing in the Tournament, the hotel we're staying at charges $12 per day for wireless internet access or $11 per hour if you use their computers downstairs in the business center. I finally broke down and paid the $12 and am currently sitting in my comfy bed blogging away! So you'e probably wondering how I've spent my time here in Vegas, so here it goes.
Saturday morning started early; 5am to be exact. It was my first time flying, so I was of course a little nervous. We made it through security (after I held up the line asking what I was supposed to do) and flew from Corpus to Dallas and Dallas to Las Vegas. We finally go into town at about 10:30am and were greeted by the sound of ringing slot machines which was our first indication that we were in the right place! We found our luggage after a half hour of waiting at baggage claim, and went to rent a car. After stuffing our bags into the back of our rented Durango, finding our way to the hotel (which was pretty easy thanks to Mr. Schuetz's good sense of direction), and unloading once we got there, it was about noon. Now, we all knew that our hotel was also a casino before we even got there because we had all researched it online, but there's no way that we could be prepared for the initial experience. There was smoke and slot machines and crazy old people throwing away their money left and right, scantily clad cocktail waitresses (very scantily clad), and children running around everywhere! I have no idea why people would want to bring their children to a casino, but then again there's a lot about Vegas I don't quite understand. After we got all situated in the hotel, we wanted to go sightseeing of course! We met up with a group of kids from our district who are staying at the same hotel as us and devised a plan to see the Vegas Strip. Our hotel provides a free shuttle service to and from the strip so that made things relatively easy. We started walking the strip on the South side at Mandalay Bay and walked all the way up to Caeser's Palace. Along the way we took lots of pictures (see some of them below), saw the water show at th Bellagio, watched the rollercoaster at New York New York, and of course got harassed by the street vendors. It was nearly 1am before we got back to the hotel, but since the next day was also a free day it was okay.
Sunday was a way fun day. We went to registration at bout 10am and after that, we had the day to ourselves. So, we looked through the attractions guide and found the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum located in The Venetian to be one of the coolest things we could do. In an effort to save time and money, we decided that taking the Hotel Shuttle to The Strip and then the monorail to Harrah's, which is right next door to The Venetian. Well, like all things, our plan sounded much better when we were talking about it because although it worked, it took over an hour for us to get there! We were pretty grumpy once we got there, seeing as how we had to walk, ride, and wait in the heat, but we were still pretty excited to get to the Museum. We took over a hundred pictures inside and I've included my favorites below. There's a funny story to go along with this though. The very last section of the Museum was called "American Heroes." They had Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, JFK, George W, and way over in the corner was a black man who I didnt recognize. So, from across the room I say (kinda of loud) "Is that Barack Obama?!?!?!" That's when the black woman next to me turned, looked and said "O no baby, that's Martin Luther King!" I was embarassed. A lot.
Oh and another thing. I just checked the Madame Tussauds New York website and they have Miley Cyrus there, but not here in Vegas. What is that about?!
Instead of wasting another hour of our lives, we decided to take a cab back to the hotel and just pay the cab fare. At that point, we didn't care how much it was, we just wanted to get back. We were pleasantly surprised to find that it only costed $18, so we split the cost three ways; $6 each!
Monday and Tuesday were pretty uneventful seeing as how they were the first days of the National Tournament. They both went like this; Wake up early, go to the tournament, stay there all day, go eat dinner, go to the hotel and sleep. That's all.
I probably won't be back to post another blog until I get home on Saturday because I'm not going to pay the $12 charge for internet again. That's way too much and I think I can last three days without it. I hope to hear from everybody soon! Only 23 more days until Denver...don't forget your Chap Stick (It's been my best friend since I've been in Vegas).

PICTURES!

Connections

2008-06-11T19:44:00.002-05:00

Ever since the creation of the Facebook group for Cast B '08, I've had the time of my life! I've "met" people from Maine, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, and of course Texas! Lexi, Candice, Laura Lynn, Stew (I'm gonna get this kid good before this thing is over. He's way too witty for his own good haha), Frederik, Jeff,, Kady, and everyone else has been so awesome to talk to. I can't wait to get to Denver and meet them all and spend the next six months with them!

Of course, in the midst of making new friends I've been a busy bee. I've completely redesigned my website and if I may say so myself, it's pretty awesome. Check it out if you get the chance.

What should I be doing right now? Packing for my week in Las Vegas which begins bright and early Saturday morning. I've got files upon files that I should be getting ready for the plane trip and of course for my perusal during competition while I'm there. For those who don't know, I'm competing in the National Forensic League's National Tournament along with two others from my school. Regardless of how I do in the tournament, a week in Vegas is going to be awesome! I'll be sure and post a nice pretty blog, complete with pictures while I'm there!

The Translator

2008-06-09T19:26:00.010-05:00

I'm not sure if I did this out of sheer boredom or because I was looking to be inspired, but regardless of my reasoning, I made the decision today to go to Barnes & Noble just to read. I didn't buy anything because quite frankly, I have no money to buy anything after all the fund raising I've done as of late, but I left the store with a spiritual gift of sorts. Pardon the cliche, but I can't think of any other way to describe it.

The Translator is a book written from the perspective of a Darfur native, Daoud Hari, who has lived out the last ten years of his life serving his country in a unique way. Instead of taking up arms and shooting at the rebels annihilating people in his homeland and engaging in what some have called a modern day genocide, he serves instead as a translator to reporters and diplomats who wish to cover the carnage taking place there. He is able to eloquently convey that he isn't doing it for money, fame, or glory, because that would only get him killed. Rather, he translates only for those associated with media outlets so the world will know that his homeland has been ravaged and that nobody is doing anything to stop it.

He talks about the reasons for the Darfur conflict, how many have lost their lives, how many more could be given the opportunity to pursue a peaceful and rewarding life if only the genocide were to stop, and of course why the "rebels" choose to do what they're doing. In the first 30 pages, Daoud addresses all of these things and manages to lay the foundation for what I can only imagine is a powerful tale of perseverence amongst some of the worst suffering in our world. In a land where over 300 million make less than a dollar a day, it's not hard for the rebels to persuade poor Africans to fight, and that's only one of the most troubling things about the Darfur conflict.

I can't wait to buy this book and take it with me on the road because aside from being one of the most emotionally appealing books I've skimmed in a while, it compliments so well the message of cultural diversity that Up with People strives to convey to its participants. I think this will be a great start to what is destined to be the cultural journey of a lifetime!

24 Days of Summer Left!

2008-06-09T02:17:00.000-05:00

I came to the realization today that I really don't have much time left until I leave for Denver. July 11th is the scheduled arrival date for all members of Cast B 2008, and not including my week in Las Vegas for Nationals, I only have 24 free days of summer left. I say free days, but actually, the majority of them will be dedicated to travel preparations such as shopping, packing, etc.

It wasn't until recently (last week to be exact) that I started to really feel like I'm leaving. I started to appreciate that fact that in a few weeks, I'll be gone to a far away place that I've never been before without my friends, my possessions, my family, and I really started to get sad. Don't get me wrong, I'm SO excited to begin my journey with all the people I'm going to meet in Denver, but at the same time, I know that things won't be the same while I'm gone, and even when I come back in December. My friends will be changed by college life while I'll be changed by the Up with People life and I really have no idea what impact it will have on my future. Will people keep up with me while I'm gone? Will they even remember that I'm gone? What will reentry be like in December? What will college be like in January? These are the thoughts that have been racing through my head at a hundred miles a minute as of late. I hope that I'll have the time of my life over the course of the next six months and I'll be able to come back to Texas with a completely different outlook on life. Even more than that, I really hope that I'll be able to come back and jump right back into life with the friends I've held near and dear for the past few years.

I've started to come into contact with a few people that will be traveling with me this season through Facebook and MySpace. They all seem really awesome and I can't wait to meet them! Isn't it strange to think that because we have such advanced technology, that I can talk to a friend to be who is living in Maine? I must say, I'm more than impressed by the talents and awesome personalities exhibited by the people I've "met" so far, and I can't wait to get to spend the next six months with them!

Here's to the start of something new!